The music world is reeling yet again and trying to come to grips with the untimely loss of an amazing musician. The news broke on Wednesday morning that Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit, MI. Its been a few days, and as the sad news sinks in, fans and other musicians have taken to social media to remember the man with the voice.
Final performance at Fox Theatre
On the evening of Wednesday, May 17, Cornell's band Soundgarden took the stage at Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI. It was another stop on their 18-city tour, which kicked off on April 28.
After the show on May 17, the band was going to have a day off until May 19 when they were scheduled to headline the Rock on the Range Festival in Columbus, OH.
Soundgarden ended the Wednesday night concert with a cover of the Led Zeppelin tune, "In My Time of Dying." The band has only covered the song about dying a few times in the past, and its been reported that Cornell added the song without the rest of the band knowing about it.
After the performance at Fox Theatre, Cornell returned to his hotel room at the MGM Grande. He spoke with his wife Vicky on the phone and she said that he was slurring his words. Cornell told his wife that he had taken a couple of the anti-anxiety medication, Ativan.
Worried about her husband, Vicky Cornell called Cornell's bodyguard and asked him to check on the singer. The bodyguard, Martin Kirsten, went to the hotel room and that is when he found Cornell dead on the bathroom floor. It has been reported that the 52-year-old Cornell hanged himself.
Tributes to Cornell
There were six shows left on the tour, and organizers of the tour plan to pay tribute to Cornell at the remainder of the stops.
At the Rock on the Range Festival on May 19, Slipknot sang two songs in memory of Cornell. They performed "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd and "Hunger Strike."
Cornell's music, which includes his work with Soundagarden and Audioslave, as well as a lot of solo work, have all been getting purchased on iiTunes and Amazon. YouTube has also seen a huge spike in searches for the musician's work, especially for videos of his final performance at Fox Theatre.
Social media sites Twitter and Facebook are blowing up with tributes to Cornell. Fans and fellow musicians have been posting condolences to his family and beautiful montages of Cornell's work.
Cornell leaves behind his wife of 13 years, Vicky Cornell. The couple have two children together, and Chris has another daughter, 16, from his first marriage to Susan Silver.
